An investigation of the relationship between undergraduate students' perception of the homework process and their perceptions of instructor behaviors

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between undergraduate students'perception of the homework process and their perceptions of instructor behaviours. This quantitative study was structured around four sub-problems, and both descriptive and correlational survey models were utilized to address them. The participants of this study were selected through a convenient sampling method and consisted of 727 undergraduate student studying at Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between undergraduate students' perceptions of the homework process and their perceptions of instructor behaviors. The "Homework Process Scale in Higher Education" was used to measure students' perceptions of the homework process, while the "Perceived Instructor Behaviors Scale" was used to assess their perceptions of instructor behaviors. To examine whether students' perceptions of the homework process and perceived instructor behaviors differed by gender, independent samples t-test was conducted. One-way ANOVA was applied to investigate the differences based on class level and academic department. The relationship between the two main variables was analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient, and a simple linear regression analysis was conducted to determine whether perceived instructor behaviors significantly predicted students' perceptions of the homework process. All analyses were carried out using the Jamovi 2.3.34 statistical software. The results of the study were presented according to the four sub-problems. In response to the first sub-problem, descriptive statistics were reported, including means, standard deviations, skewness, and kurtosis values of the scale scores. Regarding the second sub-problem, the findings revealed that neither variable showed a statistically significant difference according to gender. Although the students' perceptions of the homewor process showed statistically significant differences by class level, the effect size was found to be small. Significant differences were also observed by department; in some departments, the effect sizes were small, while in others they were moderate. As for the third sub-problem, a significant negative correlation was found between students' perceptions of instructor behaviors and their perceptions of the homework process. This indicates that as negative instructor behaviors decreased, students' perceptions of the homework process improved. Finally, the results of the fourth sub-problem showed that students' perceptions of instructor behaviors significantly predicted their perceptions of the homework process. The findings were discussed and the similarities and differences with the related topics in the literature were identified. In the recommendations section, it was emphasized that conducting more comprehensive studies through mixed methods across universities in different regions, as well as offering effective communication seminars for instructors, could make valuable contributions to the literature and enhance student-instructor relationships.